


I Won't Give Up

by goingtothetardis



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Dimension-Hopping Rose, F/M, Introspection, Prompt Fic, Song fic, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-28 13:36:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10105526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goingtothetardis/pseuds/goingtothetardis
Summary: Rose Tyler gets a tattoo to keep her focused.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Caedmon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caedmon/gifts).



> Oh boy. Aaaaaaages ago, Caedmon prompted me with: "ficlet based on the Jason Mraz song ["I Won't Give Up"](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/jasonmraz/iwontgiveup.html). Nine or Ten and Rose, wherever the muse takes you."
> 
> And now, on the occasion of her birth, I have finally filled this prompt. Once I sat down and really read the words, I was really inspired to write something with DH Rose. 
> 
> Thanks to Crazygirlne for the quick read-through.

When Rose Tyler started traveling with the Doctor all those years ago, the last thing she expected was to be torn from his side, separated from him in _almost_ the worst way possible. 

Sometimes, she muses, being stuck in a parallel universe, locked away from her more than lover, best friend, and _everything_ , including her home on a sentient spaceship, is perhaps a fate worse than death. 

She doesn’t want to minimize death, not at all, for she’s seen the stark and devastating reality of death in a variety of forms, to include the loss of her father in front of her eyes.

But to be separated from the Doctor, knowing he lives, carries on with the weight of the universe and the guilt of his actions on his shoulders, well– It fills her with an indescribable rage against the Universe. 

In the weeks before their separation, the Doctor had finally, _finally_ allowed himself to love her, both emotionally and physically. He’d come so far since she first met him while fighting off plastic dummies, and she welcomed him with open arms. Forgave him when he couldn’t forgive himself. And when she’d looked into his eyes – blue or brown – all she saw was time and space, the eyes of a Time Lord, holding infinite power and knowledge within their depths. 

For a while, enclosed in a bedroom in Pete’s mansion, Rose had let herself languish, fall into a pit of despair. But then one day, she woke up and told the Universe to shove off. 

No one – no _thing_ – will take away their love. And when life gets tough, an unfortunate inevitability in any universe, she won’t give up. She’ll always search the skies for him. She’ll always wait. But more than that, Rose Tyler will not give up. 

She won’t sit idly by and wait for the Doctor to come fetch her. No, she’ll find her own way if she has to.

She is Dame Rose Tyler, after all. The bloody Bad Wolf. 

****

&&&&&

Rose sits in a comfortable chair in a tattoo parlor, with a disgruntled Jackie by her side. 

“I don’t know why you have to go mark up your skin, Rose. Why can’t you just write yourself a note to remind yourself?” Jackie argues. 

With a sigh, Rose turns to Jackie. “Mum, I’ve told you a thousand times. It’s a reminder to myself. I know I don’t need it, but if I see the words on my skin, it’ll remind me what I’m fighting for. Even if I find him, there’ll always be trouble out there. And if there’s one thing I learned from the Doctor–”

“It’s that you never give up. I know, I know,” Jackie interrupts. 

“Exactly. So stop arguing with me, I’m gettin’ it,” Rose says, and leans back in the chair when the tattoo artist walks over. 

****

&&&&&

A few weeks later, Rose stands in the dimension cannon room, the very same room she landed in after Pete rescued her from the void. It’s been painted a shade of industrial gray, a stipulation of hers when the space was offered as a location to set up the cannon project. No more white rooms for her, ta. 

Rose absently rubs her newly tattooed arm. It’s mostly healed by now, and she takes a moment to push up her blue leather jacket and read the words. 

“ _I won’t give up_ ” is written in bold letters along the smooth skin of her forearm. 

As she readies herself for the first dimension cannon mission, she repeats the mantra in her mind. 

Rose _won’t_ give up, and she’ll keep on loving and searching for the Doctor as long as she’s able.


End file.
